How To Create the Blue Screen of Death

Did you know that you can create your own Blue Screen of Death (BSOD)? Microsoft created this possibility as long as you're willing to make a harmless change to the Windows Registry.
Generating a BSOD on purpose might be useful if you'd like to test your Startup and Recovery settings or maybe you'd just like to see one if you never have. Either way, it's kind of fun and it works on Windows 7, Vista, and XP.
Note: Changes to registry keys are made in these steps. Take care in making only the changes described. I recommend that you backup the registry keys you're modifying in these steps as an extra precaution.

 

Difficulty: Average

 

Time Required: The registry changes needed to create a BSOD take less than 15 minutes to complete

Here's How:

 

1. Click on Start and then Run.
2. In the text box in the Run window, type regedit and click OK. This will open the Registry Editor program.
3. Locate the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE folder under My Computer and click on the (+) sign next the folder name to expand the folder.
4. Continue to expand folders until you reach the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\i8042prt registry key.
5. Select the Parameters key under i8042prt.
6. From the menu, select Edit, then New and finally DWORD Value.
7. On the right-hand side of the screen, a new value will appear. Name this new value CrashOnCtrlScroll. The value must be named this exactly to function properly.
8. Double-click on the CrashOnCtrlScroll DWORD value you just created and set the Value data to 1.
9. Click OK and then close Registry Editor.
10. Restart your PC and log back in as you normally do.
11. To create the BSOD, press and hold the Ctrl key on the right side of the keyboard while you press the Scroll Lock key twice in quick succession.
    Warning: Your system will lock up and need to be restarted after causing the BSOD so make sure any work you are doing is saved and all programs are closed before initiating the keystrokes above.
    
12. The BSOD will appear on screen.
    Note: If the BSOD appears but the system reboots immediately, you will need to disable the automatic restart on system failure option in Windows.